Japanese study shows climate mitigation ozone reduction could partially offset increase in hunger risk
In Japan, climate change threatens global food security; however, climate mitigation policies may increase hunger risk by driving competition for land through bioenergy production and afforestation. Based on simulations from six global agroeconomic models, researchers from The University of Tokyo, Ritsumeikan University, Kyoto University, National Institute for Environmental Studies, and E-Konzal Co. Ltd, together with collaborators from other countries, report that the ozone reduction benefits of climate mitigation could partially offset this increase in hunger risk.
The baseline scenario assumes that today’s climate and air pollution conditions persist and follow SSP2 socioeconomic settings, a “middle-of-the-road” development pathway with moderate population growth and social, economic, and technological trends that broadly follow historical patterns within each region. According to the multi-model median of the six global agroeconomic models, food availability will increase by 2050 in the baseline scenario, decreasing the global hunger risk. Compared with 2020, the number of people at risk of hunger will fall by approximately 390 million by 2050, reaching approximately 330 million by 2050 (Fig. 1a–c).
Category: Research
